Iraqi troops push Islamic State militants from key northern town

Associated Press

Updated 1:50 pm, Thursday, September 22, 2016

Photo: Uncredited, Associated Press

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Iraqi security forces are stationed outside the city of Shirqat near Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Iraqi forces have launched a new military operation to recapture a key town north of Baghdad from the Islamic State group. The push to take Shirqat is backed by paramilitary troops, mostly Shiite militiamen. (AP Photo) less

Iraqi security forces are stationed outside the city of Shirqat near Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Iraqi forces have launched a new military operation to recapture a key town north of Baghdad from the ... more

Photo: Uncredited, Associated Press

Iraqi troops push Islamic State militants from key northern town

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BAGHDAD — Backed by U.S.-led coalition air strikes and paramilitary forces, Iraqi government troops pushed Islamic State group militants from a key town north of the Iraqi capital Thursday, days after launching an operation to retake it, a military spokesman said.

Recapturing the town of Shirqat posed another blow to Islamic State militants who have suffered major battlefield losses since late last year, shrinking the areas the extremists had controlled in western and northern Iraq since a mid-2014 blitz.

In a televised statement on state TV, the spokesman for the Joint Military Command, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, declared the town “fully liberated” with its center under the control of Iraqi forces and the national flag hoisted over nearby government buildings, including the mayor’s office and the main hospital.

State TV interrupted its normal programs with a series of news alerts announcing the operation and broadcasting patriotic songs. Pictures published by the Defense Ministry showed soldiers hoisting the Iraqi flag over buildings, the corpses of alleged militants and jubilant residents waving at Iraqi forces.

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The spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, Col. John Dorrian, said the coalition carried out “a very successful strike that eliminated a significant number of fighters who were trying to flee toward Hawija,” to the east of Shirqat, which is under Islamic State control. Dorrian couldn’t give specific figures for the number of militants killed.

The head of the Salahuddin provincial council, Ahmed al-Karim, said government forces control up to 80 percent of the city, with the militants pushed to rural areas across the Tigris River. Al-Karim added that the operation did not displace people, as residents stayed in their homes.

Shirqat, about 155 miles northwest of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, was among the first areas to fall into Islamic State hands during the militants’ summer 2014 offensive. The government forces launched the Shirqat operation Tuesday.

The town lies near the city of Mosul, which is the Islamic State’s last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

Shirqat is important for Iraqi troops to secure the supply lines to forces stationed in nearby town of Qayara ahead of Mosul operation.